2 scallions, trimmed, white part flattened with the side of a cleaver, green part finely chopped and set aside for garnish

Rinse shrimp under cold running water, then drain and blot dry with paper towels. Set aside while you prepare the marinade.

Combine 3 Tbsp of the sesame oil, the rice wine, soy sauce, honey, sesame seeds, chile sauce (if using), and five-spice powder in a large bowl and whisky to blend, stir in the garlic, ginger, scallions, and shrimp to coat, then cover and let marinate in the refrigerator, for 30 to 60 minutes.

Preheat the grill to high.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the shrimp from the marinade to a bowl, and toss with the remaining 2 Tbsp sesame oil. Pour the marinade into a saucepan; remove and discard the garlic, ginger and scallion whites using the slotted spoon. Bring the marinade to a boil and cook over medium-high heat and cook, uncovered, to a thick syrupy glaze, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

When ready to cook, oil the grill grate. Arrange the shrimp on the hot grate and grill, turning with tongs until nicely browned on the outside and firm and pink inside, about 2 minutes per side. Brush the shrimp with the glaze as they cook.

Transfer the shrimp to serving plates or a platter and sprinkle with the scallion greens. Serve immediately.

Yield: 4 Servings

From: The Barbecue Bible by Steven Raichlen

Gray: I wanted to mention that this recipe calls for using the marinade as a basting sauce. You need to be mindful to do it safely. Raichlen calls for bringing the sauce to a boil and cooking it for several minutes, not only does this thicken the sauce, it kills the baddies (microbes). This is the only safe way to do this. Never use an uncooked leftover marinade as a basting sauce.

I never know why I don’t grill shrimp more often. Grilling shrimp combines two of my favorite things into one delicious package. I don’t care if you call them shrimp or prawns, these are delicious and not at all hard to prepare. We served these with a grilled sweet potato, feta, and spinach salad from the BBC. That recipe is located here.

Katie: These were absolutely delicious! As Gray said, I don’t know why we don’t grill shrimp more often! I thought they would just fall through the grate, but we only lost one or two. They were sweet without being cloyingly sweet, and they were spicy without overwhelming the other flavors. My advice if you are making this dish is to be sure to divide yours out into servings before beginning to eat. It is way too easy to eat more than one serving of shrimp since these are so good! The only down side was that this dish was very messy. However, if I never ate anything messy I would miss out on a lot of good food! That’s why we have napkins! Enjoy!